"What is the largest number of game-ending injuries to have occurred to a single team during a match?" enquires Bob Sedlak.

The tragic case of Bena Tshadi in the Democratic Republic of Congo apparently holds this unfortunate record, Bob, after a truly freak blast of lightning wiped them out mid-game. Back in October 1998, Bena Tshadi were drawing 1-1 with visitors Basanga in the eastern province of Kasai when a true bolt from the blue struck. "Lightning killed at a stroke 11 young people aged between 20 and 35 years during a football match,' reported the daily newspaper L'Avenir in Kinshasa. The account added that while 30 other people received burns, "the athletes from Basanga curiously came out of this catastrophe unscathed."

Immediately, accusations of witchcraft arose; many teams across central and western Africa are known to employ the services of witchdoctors to put curses on their opponents. "The exact nature of the lightning has divided the population in this region which is known for its use of fetishes in football," added the newspaper. However, there has never been any official confirmation of L'Avenir's report as much of the area was stricken by civil war.

This isn't the sole instance of lightning striking a football match, however. Just days before the Bena Tshadi incident, a South African Premier League game was abandoned after seven players and the referee were sent sprawling to the turf. As a Guardian report from the time explained: "Two players from Moroko Swallows were kept in hospital but the coach of opposition Jomo Cosmos hinted that some Swallows players had faked injury. 'Our observation was that only two players were seriously injured but more fell down,' he said. The Swallows were 2-0 down with 12 minutes to go."

A LOCAL TEAM FOR LOCAL PLAYERS

"Here in the Basque country," writes Tim Tregrenza, "there are football teams that select only Basque players. Athletic Club Bilbao is the most famous, but there is also Eibar (in the second division) and other lower league teams. Are there any other clubs around the world who have a similar policy?"

Indeed there are, Tim, with the most famous being Club Deportivo de Guadalajara (also known as Chivas - Spanish for 'goats') in Mexico. The most widely supported team in the country, Chivas have fielded only Mexican-born players for a century. Their wealthy owner, businessman and film producer Jorge Vergara, also owns two other clubs: Costa Rica's Deportivo de Saprissa (recently beaten by Liverpool at the world club championship) and US Major League team Club Deportivo Chivas USA. Saprissa only use Costa Rican players, but Chivas USA's original plan to only recruit Mexican players was denied by the MLS's restrictions on foreign players. However, when the expansion side first kicked off in 2005, all but four of the 28 players in their squad were Hispanic; even their Dutch coach Thomas Rongen enrolled in a Spanish language course.

Ecuadorian side Club Deportivo El Nacional, from the city of Quito, are another team with a restricted selection policy. According to Wikipedia, "Nacional is called so because it belongs to the Ecuadorian military and because only players with Ecuadorian nationality are allowed to play on the team. This is why the team is nicknamed Puros Criollos ("All-Creoles") or El Equipo Militar ("The Military Team")."

The same source also explains the selection policy of Singaporean S-League team Young Lions. "While the bulk of the squad is made up of members of Singapore's Under-23 team, the club also takes in promising young foreign players. However they are normally only recruited into the squad if they could potentially change their nationality to Singaporean and be eligible to play international football for Singapore at some point in the future."

"Phil Stamp once popped the ball in a challenge during what I think was the 1998-99 season. Has any other footballer managed this feat?" wonders Paul Teigh.

"Ian Wright did it during one of the Arsenal v Manchester United league games in the 1996-97 season," says Chris McCluskey. "I'm not sure if it was the Highbury or Old Trafford game because Peter Schmeichel and Wright had bust-ups in both of them. Wright went flying in as Schmeichel was coming out to narrow the angle and his two-footed 'first touch' burst the ball against Peter's shins. The momentum of the challenge also made Schmeichel do a comical break-dancing style spin."

But Mat Wood reckons he can top the BBC pundit's achievement. "Being an ardent Minsterman I was at York City v Millwall in a match played at Bootham Crescent during the 1997-98 campaign," he recalls. "I particularly remember this match as Nigel Pepper burst not one, but two footballs. Awesome!" Any more for any more?

KNOWLEDGE ARCHIVE

"Has anyone played in the top division of each of the big five European leagues?" asked Chris Malone in 2003.

"I bet a million people say Jurgen Klinsmann," ranted Mohammed Choudhury, with a large bee busily buzzing in his bonnet, and singling out GU Sport readers as reactionary know-nothings. "He never played in Spain, though." Quite right, Mohammed, and we were indeed inundated with a whopping two errant Klinsmann-claiming emails.

Assuming the inclusion of France as one of these 'big five', Tom Edwards correctly identified the "perma-permed, shopping addicted Romanian waste of space, Florin Raducioiu. "Who could forget his heroics in West Ham's 96/97 season?" asked Tom. Certainly not Sean DeLoughry, Steven Smith and Seamus McCann, all of whom correctly recalled how, after blazing his way through Germany (Stuttgart), Italy (AC Milan), and Spain (Espanyol), Raducioiu blasted three goals in West Ham colours before half-arsing his way back to Espanyol, and eventually on to Monaco in France.

Our font of all knowledge is packed with thousands more questions and answers, all of which can be accessed by simply clicking here.

Can you help?

"During the recent Russia v Brazil match, the reporter claimed this to be the coldest match for the Brazilian team ever. What are the highest and lowest temperatures ever recorded during a football match?" asks Miles Meier.

"Many years ago, I remember being told that a goalkeeper for Celtic by the name of James Kennaway somehow managed to achieve the feat of appearing in internationals for Scotland, the United States and Canada. Is this true, and if so, how did he achieve this?" wonders Dave Baxter.

"With all the fuss about the half-eaten hamburger recently thrown at Gary Neville against Liverpool, it reminded me of the pig's head once aimed at Luis Figo in the Nou Camp and the burning scooter lobbed towards the field in the San Siro," recalls Brian Cowell. "But what is the strangest item to be lobbed from terrace to pitch?"

"While playing his first game for Southampton, Russian full-back Alexei Cherednik was rumoured to have rolled the ball into play instead of the conventional throw in. If this is true, is it the most extreme case of a professional footballer's lack of the game's most basic rules?" enquires Will Champion.